Gay jokes are still so common in American movie comedies that most of them barely register. That’s why, whenever anyone points out how common they are and says, "Hey, maybe this is contributing to a culture of prejudice," there tends to be a immediate and furious counter-response of: “Political correctness!” “It’s just a joke!” “I don’t see what the big deal is!”

People don’t see what the big deal is, because they’re not seeing the big picture, which is that this isn’t about any one joke. It’s about the fact that these jokes are so common – in a way that jokes about other minorities such as African Americans or Jewish people or Asians or women or the disabled, simply no longer are.

And yet no longer making jokes about "stingy Jews" (except ironically) or casually using the n-word as an insult didn't stop comedians from telling jokes,
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This weekend is a decidedly mixed bag of results open to various interpretations. The Social Network (or Revenge of the Nerds Part 14) was No.1, but it underperformed pulling in $23M when all the experts and pundits said it would do anywhere from $27-30M.

Some say that this weekend results were good and that word of mouth will prove it a steady builder (The film’s budget was $40M with director David Fincher taking no money up front) But others say that they expect a big drop since it’ll appeal only to nerds and big cities audiences and have no pull into the sticks. As one studio exec was quoted: “Left coast, right coast, and a smidge of Chicago only. The rest of the country could care less. It’s a big city pic only.”

The other big surprise was the disastrous weekend results for Let Me In, the
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This is actually one of the easier films to review that I’ve seen this year. It’s a straightforward, no-frills kind of story (despite its director, David Fincher, known more for his ostentatious brand of cinematography). It’s a dialogue-heavy film that relies heavily on an investment in its characters. It’s a biopic, you could say, but not of a specific person, rather of a company – Facebook; and I think we’re all somewhat familiar with the drama behind its creation, through to its present-day reputation as untrustworthy and even Machiavellian.

Thus, your appreciation for the film will depend on your appreciation of the characters – whether you’re entirely turned off by them, or whether you can understand them, their motivations and their actions, no matter how much you deem them despicable; Because I found
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Chicago – If “The Big Bang Theory” is truly among the better sitcoms in prime-time, that’s saying a great deal about the current state of television comedy. I was genuinely interested in checking out this show after hearing the rapturous response from viewers and critics, and especially after seeing co-star Jim Parsons snag the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series away from Alec Baldwin.

So I was rather shocked when I sat down to view the fourth season premiere of “The Big Bang Theory,” and found myself sitting in appalled silence for the entirety of the show’s 21 minutes. It reminded me of the phony sitcom on “Extras,” where the struggling actor played by Ricky Gervais is forced to stay imprisoned in an endless nightmare of shrill stereotypes, obnoxious catchphrases and canned laughter. In all fairness, “Theory” is reportedly shot in front of a live studio audience,
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Writer Jason Smilovic has set up a drama project at Fox. The project, titled The Detail, landed a script commitment with penalty after interest from multiple networks. It is executive produced by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, with Michael Dinner on board to direct. Produced by Sony TV, it is described as Ocean’s Eleven meets Revenge of the Nerds. It centers on a private detective, who, after being released from jail for a crime he didn’t commit, assembles a group of rejects, each with a unique talent, to form a detective agency and bring down his old business partner who framed him.
Additionally, Smilovic is doing a p.1 rewrite on the feature Replay, which Goldsmith-Thomas is producing for Warner Bros. The project is based on the 1987 fantasy adventure novel by Ken Grimwood about a failing 43-year-old radio journalist who dies and wakes up in his 18-year-old body in 1963 with his memories of the next 25 years intact.
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Writer/director John Hughes hit the high-school angst nail on the head with this mostly comedic, sometimes bittersweet look at five high school students serving detention.
Best line: "Dear Mr. Vernon, We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a
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In the issue of EW that came out 20 years ago this week (cover story: Elvis Presley!), I gave negative reviews to a pair of movies that both arrived on the scene to a kind of instant cachet: Whit Stillman’s insect-under- glass preppy drawing-room comedy Metropolitan and the Christian Slater midnight-radio- outlaw fable Pump Up the Volume. I wasn’t with the pack on either one; both had legions of fans, and critics, behind them. So I thought I’d go back and take another look at both movies to see if I still agreed with my original reviews. I
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Who’S It For? For the “young” men and women who think that Mountain Dew is an “energy drink,” and that Ddr is a sort of sport. If you have absolutely zero-precent clues as to what “Ddr” is, then the chances are even higher that this pop-culture love-story action-palooza may not be for you. If I’ve just described your Friday nights, then get in line, n00b.

Expectations: Though I had (once again) abstained from previews, what little footage I saw from Scott Pilgrim made it appear very stylized, and possibly fun. Excited about another “badass” role
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We've already argued that 1982 was a terrific year for geeky movies - but, wonders Jeff, did 1984 top it?

Earlier this week, it was put forth on this site by Ryan Lambie that 1982 was a great year to be a geek at the movies. While it's hard to disagree with this, it's my contention that the 84 vintage was even more refined.

Somewhere between the original Conan and this film, Ah-Nuld became a bona fide mega-star (see Conan The Destroyer below). With this first instalment in the Terminator franchise, James Cameron showed that he knew how to craft a movie that's basically one extended chase sequence wrapped around a highbrow concept lifted from some Harlan Ellison-penned episodes of The Outer Limits. Relentless, cut so tightly you could bounce coins off it, and with Schwarzenegger at his emotionless best, it's the kind
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"Twelve" is the story of 17-year-old 'White Mike', the privileged son of a restaurant tycoon, who has taken off his senior year in high school to sell drugs to his wealthy peers. When he is not selling drugs he thinks about his childhood and philosophizes about a world he feels he is not a part of. The title of the film refers to a new designer drug, referred to as a cross between cocaine and ecstasy.

Grace Dent watches the first evening of music from Glastonbury 2010 from the comfort of her sitting room, thereby avoiding early-morning smoothie stall DJ sets. Join her at 7pm

1.03am: I have a feeling this is not the textbook state of mind to be in charge of the Guardian live blogging system. *eyes struggling to focus on the screen, slurping booze* And as this is the third time I've seen Hot Chip it may be time for bed. Ah 'bed'. A Real bed. One I can get to without a 57 minute round trip via the Bingly-Bongly tent on a wild goose chase to see Joy Orbison DJ, a near broken ankle on a guy rope and the gentle wake up call of someone urinating on the side of my tent. Then a shower in the morning, with soap, leaving me unclaggy of armpit and pant district. Staying at home is amazing.
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Oh, vuvuzela, how entertaining you are to say, how infernal you are to hear for 90 straight minutes of World Cup play! Yes, South Africa's favorite horns — bleating continuously during each match like a monstrous storm of prehistoric bumble bees — has divided the globe. Stadium-goers love 'em, while players, broadcasters and countless viewers at home just want them to go away.

Alas, for the moment, it appears the vuvuzela is here to stay. That horn has even got its own Twitter feed, from which it broadcasts missives like, "Bzzzzzz? Bzzzzzz." Heh. We think its time to move on. But to what? The MTV Movies team has done some thinking and come up with five of cinema's finest instruments that would be welcome — and awesome! — replacements for the vuvuzela.

Today Universal released Get Him to the Greek, a sort-of sequel to 2008's Forgetting Sarah Marshall as it uses Aldous Snow who had a small role in the original. Beyond that, there is only a brief reference to Sarah Marshall, which has me thinking it's not really a sequel as much as it is a spin-off. The same could be said for a movie like Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)... Same characters, but not really a sequel to Clerks, which ended up having its own sequel in 2006.

In a debate with a group of fellow Seattle critics trying to decide if Get Him to the Greek was a sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall or not, the topic turned to comedy sequels in general and I was asked to name a great comedy sequel. Should be easy... right?

I started mining my memory banks, and started thinking of movies with
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There were few better character archetypes formed in the 1980s than the bully. They were jocks, they were popular, and they treated anyone who wasn't like garbage. They were entirely exaggerated and completely sadistic, but it only made it sweeter when the nerdy hero ended up on top in the end. If it weren't for some of the greatest bullies, we wouldn't have some of our greatest cinematic heroes.
In tribute, The Huffington Post has created a montage of the best tormenters from that decade, doing what they do best: giving wedgies, flipping cafeteria trays, breaking electronics and shouting insults. The champions are all here, from Ogre of Revenge of the Nerds to Chet Donnelly in Weird Science. Check out the video below and try to resist punching your monitor. From personal experience, it's hard to write articles about movie compilations with a cracked screen.
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The 1976 film Massacre At Central High was a political allegory mounted as T&A exploitation and disguised as a teen slasher flick, but despite its well-deserved reputation as a cult classic, it’s Not available on DVD. After opening with a deceptively drippy song (“You’re at the crossroads of your life…”) Massacre At Central High kicks into teen angst overdrive by creating a somewhat exaggerated fantasy of a high school notable for its complete absence of teachers, adult supervision, rules or even classes.

Promising young athlete David (Derrel Maury) moves to a new neighborhood and enrolls at the local high school. His old friend Mark (Andrew Stevens) is a student there and introduces him to his three sadistic friends who rule the school through bullying and intimidation. David declines the invitation to join the Nazi-wannabes and soon stops them from raping a girl (Cheryl “Rainbeaux” Smith). They take revenge
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Ride With The Devil (Criterion) Ang Lee’s revisionist take on the Civil War is awash in moral ambiguity, along with some stunning cinematography, production design, and fine performances. Set during the Kansas-Missouri border war, Tobey Maguire and Skeet Ulrich star as two friends who join up with the Confederate-sympathizing Bushwhackers, finding an odd ally in a former slave (Jeffrey Wright). While it’s fascinating to see America’s bloodiest conflict through the eyes of a foreigner, thereby allowing much of the previously mentioned ambiguity a certain latitude, the film never loses the bad taste it leaves for one simple reason: it asks us, the audience, to side with not just the Confederates, but some of the lowest trash that made up the dregs, and the fringes, of the movement. Big points for audacity, but snake eyes on the story itself. Singer Jewel is impressive in her film debut.
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Last month I recommended that Hollywood throw more work at William Atherton, of Ghostbusters, Die Hard and Real Genius fame. I even encouraged the years-old plan for a Real Genius sequel so long as Atherton returned as Jerry Hathaway. Well, that support has gone unnoticed, and instead there's rumor today that Columbia Pictures and original producer Brian Grazer are remaking the 1985 science-nerd comedy. Pajiba has the scoop -- courtesy of their consistently reliable yet anonymous source -- in a post that also brings word of a House Party reboot. Which one hurts your childhood more?

For me, it's definitely Real Genius. I'm imagining computer-generated popcorn overfilling Hathaway's house and romantic leads who aren't quite as awkwardly gender-neutral as Gabe Jarret and Michelle Meyrink. The whole thing slaps this version of me right in the face. Those nerd movies of the '80s, whether as popular as Revenge of the Nerds
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I’ve been a supporter of this film since the first day it was announced. How could I not be? Hollywood is so heavy into reboots, remakes, prequels, sequels, and spin-offs, it’s difficult to sift through all the noise and realize that there are occasionally original films still being produced. If anything, give Hot Tub Time Machine credit for originality. The title says it all: four guys go back in time to 1986 through a mystical hot tub time machine. But does the movie live up to its premise?… read more [Filmonic]

A title like Hot Tub Time Machine creates certain expectations, and so its story spares little time getting us to the eponymous plot device, laying down the barest of setups before its four protagonists are jettisoned back in time: Lou (Rob Corddry) is a caustic drunk who must feign suicide to get friends to return his calls; Nick (Craig Robinson
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This Friday, John Cusack and the cast of Hot Tub Time Machine will take a trip back to 1986, and I'm already getting my legwarmers and best side ponytail ready for the film's release. But why wait until the weekend to partake in the retro fun?
For this week's Movie List Challenge, tell me the '80s movies that you hold dear. Here are just a few of mine to get you started: Can't Buy Me Love, Sixteen Candles, and Revenge of the Nerds (Poindexter on the electric violin = amazing). With so many cult favorites and awesomely cheesy flicks to choose from, feel free to ramble on about your fan love. Just join the group to add your post, and I may feature it right here on Buzz. Have fun!
Photo courtesy of MGM
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"...that rare modern screen comedy that is better than the trailers make it appear. What threatened to be yet another routine exercise in raunchiness instead turns out to be a sweet, charming, hilariously funny love story that could emerge as a sleeper hit. "

"I laughed here and there, but I sort of hated everything it had to say about nerds and babes and the sliding scale of self-image."

— Michael Phillips, Chiago Tribune

"...eager to be a latter-day Woody Allen/Revenge of the Nerds fairy tale of hormonal wish fulfillment, in which a "funny" guy with quick-witted neurotic charm triumphs over the fact that he doesn't look like a stud-muffin."

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